Instead of telling him I was stone cold broke, I asked another question.
“Do you even know my name?”
His hand flew to his chest in mock offense.“Courtney, please.”
A small flutter started in my tummy, and the next thing I knew, Adam was tugging me onto the dance floor.
Last week, three months after meeting, we got married.Adam said he didn’t care how much money I had, that he loved me.That he wanted our children to have my beautiful green eyes and tenacity for a better life.
I was charmed.
“I want to go to college.”I’d told him a few weeks ago while spinning my enormous diamond ring around and around my slim finger.
Slim now, but I was putting on weight now that I was eating fancy food.
“You can do that when the kids go off to college,” Adam replied.
“That could be twenty years away,” I gasped.“No.”
We’d argued.
“Courtney.I want an heir.Do you want to be one of those women who can’t get pregnant?That’s embarrassing.”
“I’m not even twenty yet.Education is important to me.I want a career.”
“You were a fucking waitress five minutes ago,” he rudely snapped, and I couldn’t argue with him.When I went quiet, he lifted my chin.“Three years.Then I want a child.”
I nodded.
I could hardly argue.I loved him and wanted to make him happy.It was a fair negotiation, so I let it go.
I should be grateful Adam had given me a credit card linked to his account and saved me from homelessness or returning to my uncaring parents.
––––––––
PRESENT DAY
––––––––
GOD, I WAS young andnaïve.Now, at almost twenty-six, I see life differently.At nineteen, I had been easily impressed, but I was also desperate when I met my husband.He was very charming, handsome, and promised me a life of security and wonder.
Plus, I truly believed he loved me.
I should’ve known, but how could I?I’d barely lived and was scared and alone in New York City, living paycheck to pitiful paycheck.
I believed our meeting was fate.Adam had saved my life in my eyes.
Our first night together was filled with passion, and he showered me with everything a girl could dream of: diamonds, clothing, vacations.Things I’d never had.We vacationed in Rome, Paris, Hawaii, Sydney, Switzerland, and then one day, he proposed on one knee while we were in the Maldives.The enormous diamond almost blinded me.
“Say yes, Courtney.Spend forever with me.”
I didn’t know what love was.Not then, and I still don’t know today.But he claimed to love me, so I decided I must love him, too.
I thought that I did until recently.
We married in an intimate ceremony in Central Park with his parents and a handful of his friends.His words to me that night were simple: “Remember, Court, three years, and then I want children.”
Those were the words after consummating our marriage vows.I recall feeling unhappy but reminded myself that it was a fair compromise.
